Africans Adopt Surveillance, Enlightenment as New Strategies to Combat Ebola Virus

Countries in the West African sub-region have opted to embark on enlightenment campaign and surveillance along the borders as strategy to combat and prevent further spread of the disease in the sub-region.

This was one of the major strategy that came out of the two-day meeting in Accra, Ghana where officials committed to better surveillance to detect cases of the virus, enhance cross-border collaboration, better engagement with local communities and closer cooperation with the U.N. World Health Organization and other partners.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that at least 467 people have died of the virus since February this year.

“The governments are required to mobilize relevant sectors, community, religious and political leaders to improve awareness, psycho-social support and understanding of the Ebola situation,” Francis Kasolo, WHO Africa director for disease prevention and control, told a news conference.

Deputy Health Minister of Liberia, Bernice Dahn told reporters that there is no plan to close borders in a bid to prevent the spread of the disease but that efforts will be made enlighten people on the danger of the ailment.
“We believe that closing borders is not an option because we believe it would not work,” Dahn said.

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“We urge all parties present at this meeting to turn their promises into immediate concrete action on the ground,” Marie-Christine Ferir, emergency desk manager for health charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), said in a statement.